Demon Howl
by PyroxHawk
Summary: This is basically a prequel to my story Spirit Fire. Again, I changed the concepts concerning Namine and the Organization slightly. Same characters, just a little younger. You should read Spirit Fire before this. So anyway, I hope you enjoy it! R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Okay, well I hope you enjoy the story. If you haven't read Spirit Fire, read it before hand, it's better that way.

Disclaimer: sadly, I do not own any of the characters here except Falcon, though I would love to own Axel! But they all belong to Square Enix.

So, we begin!

"Are you sure about her?" a boy of about 13 stood in the shadows with another boy who looked several years younger, about 9. The older one had fire red hair that spiked backwards and dark poison apple green eyes, a small black tear shaped mark under each. The younger boy had dirty blonde hair that stuck upward slightly, and bright blue eyes. Both were wearing black complete cloaks that went down to their ankles and had sleeves. They both also wore black leather gloves, perfect clothing for the cold bitter winter.

"How should I know whether she's the right one or not?" the younger boy replied snappily. He was obviously irritated; "the Superior says she's the one, so I guess she is."

"Well, I hope she's pretty good then," the older one said with a hint of bitterness, "judging by the looks of her…"

"The Superior says she lost both her parents last year in a deadly heartless assault," the other one replied.

The older boy made a sound somewhere between a laugh and a scoff, "a deadly heartless assault, oh so frightening."

"Oh Axel, quit being so mean," the other boy said, "she just might be different from her parents. Don't judge her yet..."

"Well Roxas, I guess it's about time we took her in then."

The young girl that the two had been discussing was sitting, shivering with cold on the ground, dressed in nothing but rags that were once fabulous clothes of a powerful fighter. Her dark green eyes, the same color as the 13 year old in the shadows, shone sadness and loneliness; her dirty black hair had streaks of red going through it. She was about 9 years old, and her parents had died the year before, in, what she had been told, a deadly heartless assault. Suddenly, a shadow loomed over her and as she looked up, two boys, the same two who had been talking about her, stood over her. She was surprised enough that they had noticed her at all, more or less bothered to stop. She scanned them quickly, and thought it was strange that they both wore the same cloaks; even stranger that one was her age.

"You're coming with us," the older one said, "don't try to fight, it's no use." With that, he bent down and took hold of her wrist, none too gently, and pulled her up.

"Don't hurt her Axel," the boy her age said, jogging to keep up with him as Axel hauled her off. She tried to resist nonetheless, having no idea where these strange people were taking her. She scratched and bit, hissing all the while. They didn't know it, but she was a demon, having come from a line of them. Her nails were sharp as a cat's, her senses, particularly sight and sound, were unnaturally sharp.

"Ah!" Axel shouted as he drew his hand back, inspecting a bleeding cut inflicted by the girl's nails that had torn right through the leather of his glove, "testy, aren't you?" The girl simply glared back at him, and then she turned and ran as fast as she could. Instantly, a black shadowy void opened up in front of her, causing her to stop in her tracks as Axel immerged from it, smirking. She was astounded, who were these people? She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Please, don't fight," she heard the other boy's voice and turned to face him, "we have to take you. We promise, where we're taking you you'll be taken care of and kept safe. No lie." The girl was amazed to hear these words coming from a boy no older than her, and his voice calmed her for some indefinite reason. She didn't resist as the boy led her along, whispering comforting words.

"You're good Roxas," Axel said huffily, "how do you do it?"

Roxas smiled gently, "I choose to use other methods than violence, it's simple as that." Axel crossed his arms and winced as the sharp winter wind bit into his hand wound. He cursed silently as he followed Roxas and the girl back to Castle Oblivion.

"Good job, you two," an older man of about 25 said to Axel as Roxas as they brought the girl to him, "very well done."

"Are you sure this girl is the right one…sir?' Axel asked cautiously.

"She is, there is no mistake. I knew it the instant I saw her," the man replied. The girl was astounded, she had never seen this man before, how could he have seen her? This time, he turned to face her.

"What is your name?" he asked in a voice that was commanding and seemed dark. His gray-green eyes bored into her. He had disheveled sliver hair that went below his shoulders, and he seemed to be the leader of the group that sat in a circle around him. They were in a large circular white room that had thirteen chairs of varying heights, each of them marked with a strange symbol in a blue circle on the top. There were thirteen people, counting Axel, Roxas, and the man that was standing in front of her. They all wore the same black cloak that Axel and Roxas wore. One, about 23, had long blue hair, a crossed shaped scar between his evil looking golden eyes, he reminded the girl of a fox. Another one, about 11, had a lock of silver-blue hair covering one eye, the other gray blue eye fixed directly on her. He gave her the creeps. And another one, about 12, had blonde hair that stuck up on the top, three bangs hanging down from the center. His light green eyes looked innocent enough, but knowing these people…

That was all she could see before the fox-like man's voice rang sharply through the air, "answer the Superior!"

"Falcon…" she whispered, her voice hoarse from lack of use, "Falcon Tenshi."

"Well then Falcon," the man said, "we welcome you into Organization XIII."

Well that's the first chapter folks! Sorry it was so short, I'll make the others longer. Review please! I hope you like it so far! Keep reading!


	2. Chapter 2

So, here's the second chapter of my new installation. Again, I do not own any of the Kingdom hearts characters, and Michelle, if you are reading this, Axel does NOT look like a clown! For all you other people, hope you enjoy. And hi Alex!!!! (if you're reading this...)

-----

Falcon stood there, amazed. Never in all her life had she known about this Organization XIII thing, and here she was, after being dragged along by someone she didn't even know to join them. She had so many questions: who were these people, why did they want her to join, what was she going to do here? But she was so happy to have someone to take care of her that she barely cared. She smiled for the first time in a year, and some of her old personality came back.

"I'm glad to be here."

"I'll introduce our members then," the man said, and he turned, gesturing to each one in turn and introducing them. The fox-like man was named Saix, the one who creeped her out was Zexion, there was Axel and Roxas whom she had already met, and the blonde one was Demyx. There were many others, most of which she hadn't bothered to memorize their names. She did notice there was only one girl in the Organization, and her name was Larxene. The man who was the "Superior" was called Xemnas, but she figured no one really called him that. It was either "sir" or "the Superior" most of the time. The rest of the names, she figured, she would commit to memory over time.

"That is all," Xemnas said, "the rest of you may go do whatever it is your doing. No. 4, I hope that the Riku Replica you are working on is nearly done, we shall be needing it soon. Axel and Demyx, I want you two to go and rid the castle grounds of the heartless again; they're starting to get out of hand. Roxas, I want you to go on a spy mission, a very special spy mission. I want you to spy on your other half: Sora. Make sure you don't alert him to your presence. Falcon, I want you to go with him, it will be good experience."

"I'm staying here...?" she asked, "forever?"

"Yes, this is your permanent home, we hope for you to feel welcome," Xemnas replied. Falcon was so happy she didn't argue, "that will be all. Roxas, report to me after three hours. I do not want you wandering too much through Twilight Town like you did last time. Set a good example for our new member."

"Yes sir..." Roxas said, dipping his head, and he walked out of the room, with me following him.

"See you later Rox," Axel said to him at a fork in the hallway as he headed the other way with Demyx, "I'm off on heartless duty, ugh."

"Now you know what it feels like," Roxas said with a warm smile, "besides, you're good at it." Axel muttered something inaudible as he slung one of his chakrams over his shoulder, the other dangling loosely at his side. As soon as Axel and Demyx were out of sight, Roxas summoned up one of the black voids and stepped toward it.

"Come on," he urged, "let's go."

Falcon was a little uneasy, "um..."

"I'm not really supposed to use voids for teleportation," Roxas admitted with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders, "the Superior says I'm too young, but Axel taught me in private." Falcon frowned a bit, her eyes narrowing. Roxas laughed, "I know Axel's a bit arrogant, but he's great when you get to know him." Falcon looked up, surprised, "really, he isn't so bad. He took me under his wing when I came to the Organization, we'll do the same for you." Falcon's eyes brightened and she smiled a warm smile.

"You should talk more often, not the talkative type?" Roxas asked. Falcon looked down and didn't say anything.

"I'm shy around people I don't know..." she said.

Again Roxas smiled, "well you can talk to me. And Axel would be much friendlier if you gave him a chance," then Roxas's eyes glittered slyly, "and I think he's being extra snobby to you because he's starting to develop a liking towards you."

Falcon looked up, her eyes sparkling with amazement, "how do you know?"

"I've known him for two years now," Roxas said, "call it intuition if you will. I think I'm right, you'll see."

"But...he's so..."

"Obnoxious?" Roxas finished with a laugh, "yeah. Well, you should know that guys like him don't like people to know how they really feel. Ruins his ego." Falcon seemed unsure; she still hadn't forgiven Axel for trying to drag her off so roughly.

"Like I said," Roxas added, "give him a chance. He cares about you."

"He never talks to me! He never even looks at me!" Falcon said, "how can you be so sure-?"

Roxas just gave her a knowing look, "like I said, call it intuition if you will. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about." Without another word, the two of them strolled into the void, and were surrounded by darkness. To Falcon it seemed she took two steps before they were somewhere else. As she looked behind her, she saw they had stepped out of the dark void, and were somewhere unrecognizable.

"You know," she pointed out, "for a nine year old, you talk like you're sixteen."

"It's probably from being around people much older than me for so long," Roxas replied, "now quiet, I see Sora." Falcon realized they were high up in a crevice, hidden from view. Roxas pulled his cloak hood over his head to hide him even further, and as he looked to the side, he realized Falcon was gone! He let out a little gasp and glanced quickly around.

"I'm right next to you," Falcon's voice whispered. Roxas flinched and looked back. Now that he concentrated, he could barely make her out from the wall behind her. Her eye color had turned pale lavender and the rest of her body had turned transparent so she blended perfectly with the surroundings.

"How are you-?" Roxas began.

"I turned into glass," Falcon replied, "it's a good camouflage technique." Sure enough, Roxas felt her arm and it was smooth as glass, and you could see right through it.

"But how can you-?"

"Shh..." Falcon whispered, "I'll explain later." Then she turned her attention to Sora.

"Riku! You're actually real!" Sora cried as he immerged from a door that was engraved with a red fire symbol. He jumped forward and stretched the cheeks of another boy in front of him.

_'Riku...' _Falcon thought, _'where have I heard that before...?' _Then she remembered: Xemnas had said something about a Riku Replica to this guy named Vexen. Why did they need a Riku Replica? Oh well, it was none of her concern. She turned her attention back to the two boys, who were now accompanied by a duck and some dog thing that carried a shield. The duck wielded a staff.

"Hey knock it off," Riku said, waving his arm in the air.

"Where's Kairi?" Sora asked.

"Isn't she with you?" Riku asked in return. Sora hung his head, "well, it's okay. I'm sure she got out."

"I traveled all over, visiting different worlds, looking for you!" Sora cried, "well, with their help." He indicated the duck and the other one.

"Who are they?" Riku asked, as if seeing them for the first time. He looked them up and down seemingly with disdain.

"I'm Donald," the duck said.

"And I'm Goofy."

"Uh huh..." Riku replied, then turned back to Sora, "well it's all right, just leave to me-" Suddenly Sora was behind him, his keyblade slicing through a heartless.

"Leave it to who?" Sora asked huffily, slinging the keyblade over his shoulder.

"When did you-?" Riku began.

"Like I said, I was looking all over for you," Sora said.

"Sora's the keyblade master!" Donald said.

"So this is a...keyblade?" Riku asked, holding up Sora's keyblade, inspecting it.

"Wha-?" Sora exclaimed, and lunged at Riku, "give it back!" He stumbled and fell, and Riku shrugged.

"Here, catch," he said, and threw the keyblade to Sora, who caught it.

"So, you're coming with us, right?" Sora asked, "we've got this awesome ship!"

"No!" Donald said firmly.

"What? Why not?" Sora cried.

"He just can't!"

"Oh come on..." Sora said.

"Sora..." Goofy said, indicating the spot where Riku once stood. As Sora looked, Riku was no longer there, but Roxas and Falcon had seen him slip away quietly.

"Oh good going," Sora said, before sighing, "well, at least I know he's okay." With that, they walked away. Roxas flashed out his keyblades.

"Sora's not the only one..." he said, "this one's Oblivion," he indicated his right hand, "and this one's Oathkeeper," he indicated his left hand, "come on, that's enough. We should report back to the Superior."

"Why don't any of you ever call him by his name?" Falcon asked as she turned back solid.

"We just don't, I learned that my first day here," Roxas replied, "it's best not to risk it, don't you think?" Falcon nodded, and Roxas opened up another portal, and they stepped toward it.

"Say, you never told me how you can turn to glass," Roxas said as they stepped through. As they were walking towards the castle, Falcon explained everything, and then they met up with Axel and Demyx, who had just finished with the heartless, and she explained it all again.

"So...you're a demon?" Axel asked, astounded. Falcon nodded.

"That explains your sharp nails," he said, looking at his wound with disdain. Falcon remembered what Roxas had told her about Axel, and tried to keep a look out for anything that might hint he actually cared about her, but so far, he wasn't making it easy.

"Then turning to glass shouldn't be all you can do," Demyx said reasonably.

"I'm a good fighter, and I can do magic really well," Falcon said, "and I'm gonna get my wings soon."

"When does that happen?" Roxas asked.

"On my tenth birthday," Falcon said proudly.

"Which is...?" Axel asked.

"Very soon, in a couple of days," Falcon replied.

"So do you have an element of magic you prefer?" Demyx asked.

"Shadow," Falcon replied, "I've always only been able to do shadow magic. Anything using the element of shadow or necromancy is my expertise."

"Good, not taken," Demyx sighed. Falcon shot him a curious look.

"What'd you mean?" she asked. Demyx glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

"You'll find out," was all he said.

-----

Well I hope you liked it all you peepz out there! Yeah I know the years are messed up. For all of you who don't know, the scene of Riku and Sora was from KH1. And supposedly, KH1 is only one year before KH2, but since Spirit Fire (which all of you should have read before this) takes place during KH2, and is five years later, it's kinda sketchy...but oh well. That's a minor thing. So...R&R, hope you liked it!

5


	3. Chapter 3

So hey people, here's the third chapter of my story, which is also rather short. ...Well that's okay! I hope you enjoy it. You know what the disclaimer is, and so whatever! Lights, camera, action!

-----

When the four of them returned back to the castle, they found they had absolutely nothing to do. So, Roxas opted to give Falcon a tour of the place. Dragging Axel along of course. Cunning little Roxas was determined to get them to like each other.

"This castle known as Castle Oblivion, has a total of ten floors. It would be a total waste of time to go up and down stairs, so of course that's why we have teleportation voids," Roxas talked on and on as we progressed through the castle, "the meeting room is on the eighth floor, remember that, and the room where Axel, Larxene, and other people go to just hang for a while is on the third floor. Remember that too." Falcon nodded and followed alongside Roxas, Axel tagging behind them with his arms crossed.

"Roxas knows he's perfectly capable of giving the tour himself..." Axel muttered to nobody in particular, "don't understand why he had to drag me along..."

"Well, that's about it," Roxas finished, "I'm gonna go and get some training time in, I promised Demyx I would. Why don't you," he indicated Axel, "go and keep Fal some company." Before anyone could argue, Roxas strolled off, leaving behind a very disgruntled Axel, and a horrified Falcon.

"He's just determined to make my day difficult," Axel said, frowning. Then he turned to Falcon, "well, I might as well." He turned and motioned for Falcon to follow him as they climbed up the stairs to the third floor.

"You and Roxas get along together well," Axel noted. Falcon nodded, too conscious to say anything in return, "yeah..."

"Roxas said..." Falcon began, but then thought better of it and left the sentence hanging.

"Huh?" Axel asked, startled, "what did Roxas say?" When Falcon didn't answer, he sighed, "I have a feeling that little guy is planning something. He's awfully smart for his age."

"You think so too?" Falcon asked.

Axel nodded, "you know, you don't talk much."

Falcon sighed, this was the second time she had to answer this in one day, "I'm shy around people I don't know."

"You know me," Axel said huffily, "and you're pretty talkative around Roxas." Falcon didn't reply to that one.

Axel looked up wards, as if debating something, then sighed and said, "okay, I'm sorry." Falcon looked at him with astonishment.

"For what?" she asked.

"For being...so...well...obnoxious," Axel said, and Falcon knew it was hard for him to admit that. Falcon smiled, and Axel blushed ever so slightly.

"Okay, forget everything I just said," he said, "don't ever tell anyone I said that okay? Especially Roxas. He'll never let me forget it." Falcon snickered.

"What's so funny?" Axel demanded, "I'm not-!" He was totally caught off guard as Falcon flung her arms around him, though she only reached his mid-chest. Axel blushed like crazy as his eyes widened in surprise.

"Nii-san..." Falcon said affectionately. Axel smiled and rested a gloved hand on her head. He suddenly felt so protective of the little girl who had just called him "older brother." He may not have had a heart, but he knew it was going to be his job to take care of her from now on. Roxas could help, but it was him, and not Roxas, whom Falcon had just acknowledged as a brother.

"Yeah uh..." he said softly as Falcon released her grip on him, "let's head on to the rec room, shall we? You know, you have the exact same color eyes as me, and your hair had red streaks in it."

"Nii-san," Falcon said simply, summing it all up.

"Yeah, long lost siblings, that's right," Axel replied with a laugh, "then why am I not a demon?"

"Or the question is," Falcon said, "why am I a demon?" Axel thought for a second.

"Yeah, that works too."

"Looks like you're getting along well with the new girl, eh Axel?" a snarky voice asked. As they looked up, they saw Larxene there, a blonde haired girl who was about 12. Her dark brown eyes glittered with malevolence.

Axel instinctively stepped in front of me, "knock it off Larxene."

"Well all right," she said nonchalantly, "don't get too comfy, the Superior is keeping an extra eye out for her, and if something happens to her, you are going to be-"

"The first one he questions, I know," Axel finished, rolling his eyes, "whatever Larxene. You are No. 12, I am 8, I have a higher status than you, so you should not be talking to me that way."

"Hn," she scoffed, "since when have you ever been respectful of your elders?" Axel seethed with anger, and she Larxene smirked, knowing he couldn't reply to that one. Suddenly, Larxene was gripped with a terrifying headache, her head felt like it was being crushed. Screaming, she clutched her head in her hands. Axel looked, in astonishment, at Falcon, whose green eyes were sparkling dangerously as a dark black shadow wisped around her. She held out her hand at arm's length directly at Larxene, channeling a shadow power, causing the headache.

"Falcon, don't," Axel said, and Falcon released her magical grip, sniffing with disdain. Instantly, Larxene collapsed on the ground, unconscious.

"Looks like you've got a good grasp of your element," Axel said, "I wouldn't want to cross you." Falcon smiled sweetly.

"If you've got to protect me, what else can I do for you?" Falcon said. Axel considered her words for a moment, utterly baffled by the 9 year old's sense of loyalty. She had only known him for a day, and already this dedicated. Axel shook his head and ruffled her hair.

"Yeah well," he said, "just don't kill anyone in my stead, I don't want the Superior angry at you." Falcon stared at him for a while. _'Roxas was right; Axel's not that bad when you get to know him. Maybe he does care about me. I guess Roxas really did know what he was talking about.' _

-----

And that's the end so far. Next chapter will be coming in another few days, because school is starting. I probably won't have that much time to write, but I shall try. Until then, au revoir!

3


	4. Chapter 4

"That's great!" Roxas shouted happily when Falcon told him what had happened, "see I told you that he cared about you! You just had to give him a chance, that's all."

"He's kinda like an older brother to me," Falcon said, "we even have the same eye color."

"Long lost siblings?" Roxas said. Falcon smiled sweetly and nodded.

"He really is nice, I guess I just jumped to conclusions..." she added solemnly. Roxas shook his head.

"Well I mean he can be rude to people he doesn't know. It's a cold front. Inside, he really is a caring person," he said reasonably, "I mean, he likes you. He considers you someone so important he would sacrifice his life to protect you. That's something."

"How do you know he would sacrifice to protect me?" I asked, feeling a bit flattered but not showing it.

"Well I mean, from what you said, he stood up for you from Larxene. Just watch and see, I think he would give his life for you," Roxas said with another sly smile that indicated he knew something I did not, "well to tell you the truth, it's getting late. We really should get to sleep. I'll show you to your room." We walked up to the 7th floor, and he traced the word _Namine_ on the wall in certain place. A white blaze sliced along the wall in the shape of a door, and with a flash, a solid door replaced the wall that was once there.

"What's _Namine_?" Falcon asked as they walked in.

"You'll see eventually," Roxas said. The room was completely white, with the exception of a little light blue, "you can do some redecorating if you want. Axel's on the 6th floor, and I'm on the 4th, so head on down if you need us. Axel's just below you, so yeah. Good night." With that, he walked out, made sure no one was near, and teleported away.

Falcon stood there looking at the room, wondering how she was supposed to redecorate. Then she thought of something. Raising her arm, she summoned the power of shadow and changed the room to her liking. Soon the walls were re-colored black with a slight red hue to it, silver sparkles across the walls. Everything in it was either silver, red, black, or dark blue. She nodded, liking the adjustment. Then she turned and walked out. She headed down a floor, and knocked on the door. The door had a huge fire mark on it, and Falcon wondered what it was for.

"Who is it?" Axel's voice called, "I swear if it is you Roxas, I am telling you for the last time that no I do not like Falcon in THAT way, I'm just protective of her, that's all." Falcon snickered outside the door; amused that Roxas was taunting Axel for that. The door opened and Axel was more than surprised to see Falcon there. He blushed slightly, realizing what he just said. He let her in, opening the door wider as she entered and explored the room. Everything in it was somehow related to fire. For some reason he had a red lava lamp beside the bed.

"Why's everything so...pyro?" she asked.

"My element's fire, it's natural," Axel replied.

"Does everyone have an element?" Falcon asked.

"Not everyone, but most people." Falcon didn't respond and instead walked over to the bed and plopped down on it, intently watching the lava lamp.

"So...what're you here for?" Axel asked, walking over to her.

"I dunno..." she replied, "'cause I feel like it?" Axel quirked an eye at her and sighed, shaking his head and smiling.

"Did you see your room yet?" he asked. Falcon nodded.

"So...what's this about Roxas taunting you about something?" Falcon asked slyly, clearly amused by the fact that Axel was embarrassed by it. Axel blushed a little, and then shook his head.

"He thinks that I like you in THAT way, you know, like like you," he said, "but I don't. I mean, no offense or anything..."

"None taken," Falcon replied.

"I mean, I like you in a older brother sort of way. Like you know, I'd protect you and make sure you're safe. I would...well..." he seemed to realize he was rambling a bit, and stopped.

"Yeah...?" Falcon urged.

"Well, you know, stand up for you and all that stuff..." he said quietly, "you do feel like a younger sister to me. That's interesting."

"Just like how you feel like an older brother to me," Falcon replied.

"Hey, why'd you do that anyway?" Axel asked. When Falcon gave him a confused look, he added, "like, hug me and call me your older brother."

Falcon smiled, "because it felt right, that's all."

"It...felt right?" Axel asked, giving the young girl a strange look. Falcon simply smiled and nodded, Axel's sick thoughts not really reaching her. Axel just shook his head and tried to comprehend what Falcon meant by "it felt right."

"As in, it felt like the right thing to do," Falcon elaborated, and Axel nodded slowly, not really understand it, but not wanting to ask.

"Well, we should both head to bed, it's late," Axel pointed out.

Falcon nodded, "I know." She stood up and once again delicately hugged Axel, smiling and resting her head against him, "you make a great older brother." Axel sighed and half smiled. He then escorted her back to her room, raising an eyebrow when he saw how dark it was in there, but didn't say anything. Instead, he bid her goodnight, and saw to it that she was comfortably tucked in before kissing her on the forehead IN A BROTHERLY SORT OF WAY and walking out, turning off the lights.

It was very, very early in the morning, about 2, when Falcon woke to a dim white light shining in her room. She looked up to see what it was, and was surprised to see a girl standing there. Her skin was pale and she had blue eyes, blonde hair framing her face. Her form seemed ghostly, and it was misty. The white light was radiating from her and she smiled as she saw Falcon.

"Who are you?" Falcon asked tentatively, quite scared by her sudden appearance.

"My name is Namine," she replied, "well, the old one anyway."

"What do you mean?" Falcon asked suspiciously.

The girl smiled again, "you are the new Namine."

"Excuse me, my name is Falcon," Falcon answered, "you must have the wrong person."

"The Namine of the Organization is their power source," the girl continued as if she had not heard Falcon, "you will have your initiation in two days' time. Your new name will be Namine, and you will be number zero. Power over all, and yet none."

"You make no sense…" Falcon said, "two days' time is my birthday."

"Just your luck then," Namine said.

"What do you mean I'll be zero? And what do you mean by "power over all, and yet none?" Falcon asked.

"The Superior is one, Saix is seven, you are zero," Namine replied, "zero overrules all if played second, but played first, is totally useless." Falcon raised an eyebrow, and yawned.

"That's nice," she said, "now can I sleep?"

Namine smiled again, "it's been nice meeting you." With that, she shimmered, and faded.

_'You'll see eventually…' _that's what Roxas had said when she had asked about it. But this explanation didn't seem any clearer. She decided to ask them the next morning. Until then, sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

"Falcon, wake up," a voice called. Falcon opened her eyes drearily, realized it was only 5, and groaned.

"Go 'way," she murmured, and buried her head in her pillow.

"The Superior wants you up," the voice called again, and as Falcon sat up, she saw Axel standing there in front of her.

"Axel…" she groaned, "can't I sleep?"

"Nope," he replied, "you gotta be up at this time every morning." Falcon groaned again and got up as Axel walked out. She looked next to her to see a pile of clothing. To be specific, it was a completely black shirt with bloodred rhinestones on it spelling Demoness in fancy cursive. Under that, was a pair of black silk pants, flowy and extremely comfortable. Then, the standard Organization XIII black cloak that they all wore. Falcon stood up and pulled it all on. Surprisingly, she fit perfectly into all of it, which she thought was kinda weird. After checking herself in the mirror in the room, she yawned again, wishing more than anything that she could sleep, and walked out of the room.

"There you are, you take a long time," Axel said. With a start, Falcon realized he had just been outside her door the entire time.

"You scared me nii-san," Falcon said, "good morning."

"Morning to you too…" Axel replied, and patted her on the head, "let's go get breakfast before Roxas eats it all." Together they walked to the 5th floor, and helped themselves to heaps of chicken, sandwiches (of which Falcon ate five) and salad. Downing it all with a couple glasses of milk, Falcon sat back and patted her stomach.

"It's been so long since I've had a decent meal," she said.

"You match Roxas in eating ability," Axel said, his eyes wide, "that's amazing." Falcon smiled, and then remembered the girl she had seen.

"Hey, yesterday night a girl came to my room, she said she was the old Namine and that I would be Namine in two days' time, which is tomorrow, and I would be zero, power over all, and yet none. What did she really mean?"

"Exactly what she said," Axel replied, "our old Namine liked to talk in riddles. Basically to clear it up, she meant that tomorrow, you will have your initiation as Namine into our Organization. Everyone is gonna call you either Namine of zero for the rest of your time here."

"But my name is-!"

"I know," Axel said, cutting her off, "but we all have to call you Namine. It's the rules. The Superior said so."

"What about the zero thing? Power over all, and yet none. And she said something like zero overrules all when played second, but when first, is totally useless."

Axel smiled, "you'll just have to figure that out for yourself, got it memorized?" Falcon crossed her arms and gave Axel a hard stare. She had expected Axel to be clear with her if anyone was, and to tell her what was going on. Instead, he was being as evasive as the Namine girl, and she felt betrayed. At that moment, Roxas walked up to them.

"Ah…I'm stuffed," he said.

"Finally," Axel said, rolling his eyes, "I'd swear you have a black hole for a stomach."

"So I heard you met our old Namine," Roxas said, "she was pretty cool."

"What he means by that is he's trying to say he thought she was hot," Axel explained to Falcon, who smirked and nodded. Roxas immediately blushed.

"I-I did not!" he stammered, his face growing red, "we were just friends…"

"Sure…" Axel said, smirking as only he could, "I know what was really going on. You can't hide anything like that from me, got it memorized?"

Nothing particular happened that day, aside from Falcon aimlessly wondering and trying to figure out what Namine meant by the zero thing. It was constantly on her mind and it wasn't helping that whenever she asked Axel, Roxas, or even Demyx, they all smirked and said slyly, "you'll see." The only thing that did brighten her mood a bit was that she figured she would have to find out more about it the next day, that was initiation day. Also, it was her birthday tomorrow, and she would be officially turning ten. She would get her wings tomorrow, but there was nothing to prepare her for the soreness and pain that seared through her back for the entire day, which was part of the reason why she didn't get anything done. She was pained and grumpy when she walked outside that night, intending to sleep in a tree so her wings would have space.

The next morning Axel walked into her room and saw that she wasn't there. He was curious and slightly worried as he walked outside. He hadn't taken two steps onto the castle grounds when he heard an earsplitting shriek. He charged out, recognizing the voice as Falcon's. He watched, horror-struck, from behind a bush as two slits in Falcon's back in the shoulder blade region opened through the skin and fabric of her clothing. She screamed again as her skin split wider, and ebony black dragon wings unfurled through the cloth. Axel remembered her saying something about getting wings on her birthday, but he never thought it would be like this. The wings were developed, though they were still folded and covered in a thick black slime dripping from them. Axel cringed at the sight, it was kind of unnerving. Slowly, still trembling with the pain, Falcon sunk to the ground on one knee, gasping. After staying there for a minute, she slowly stood up and cautiously spread her newfound wings. They did stretch, and so did the black tar stuff, dripping even more, it looked rather disgusting. She flapped her black dragon wings experimentally, and found that they were rather big. With a few powered flaps, she rose into the air, and amazingly, she found that she was very light in the air. She tried some experimental flying, soaring through the air, and doing clumsy loop-de-loops. Her turning was near perfect. She needed to work on the braking in mid-air a bit though, but her weaving through obstacles such as closely knitted trees was flawless. Her sharp turned were good, and as she was flying, the black tar nearly all dripped off, leaving her with smooth black perfect dragon wings. She expected she would need a lot of practice, but it did not seem so. Her landing was almost there, she only stumbled a bit, but other than that, it was perfect.

"That was great!" Axel's voice called out, startling her.

"How do always manage to just appear out of nowhere?" Falcon asked.

"Talent, I guess," Axel replied, shrugging, "that was good flying, I like your wings."

Falcon smiled, "thanks."

"Well, guess what time it is? It's your initiation time, so let's go before the boss blows his top at us," Axel said, leading her up. They met Roxas on their way to the Altar of Naught, and the three of them walked up the long stairs.

"Nice wings," Roxas commented, "I like them."

"Just got them," Falcon said.

"You should've seen her fly," Axel added, "it was great." Roxas nodded appreciatively, and indicated the top of the altar.

"Let's go then," he said.

"Are you sure it's not gonna hurt?" Falcon asked timidly as they walked up the steps.

"It won't, I promise," Axel replied, shaking his head.

"Yeah, you really don't feel anything," Roxas agreed, his slightly spiky dirty blonde hair beginning to sway in the light breeze.

"You're the most important member of the Organization, you know?" Axel said.

"I know," Falcon said, "What do I have to do?"

"Really, you just have to listen to what our boss: Xemnas, tells you. You'll be trained to fight for yourself, and we're gonna need you, 'cause you're the only one of us who actually has a heart," Roxas said.

"So...basically I'm just being used by the Organization because I have a heart?" Falcon asked, "you're gonna draw power from me, aren't you?"

"For a ten year old, you sure can analyze things," Roxas said.

"Comes from being a demon," Falcon replied proudly, spreading her new wings.

"We're not going to draw power from you, but Saix and the others might," Axel said, "they're worse than we are. Especially Saix, if he sees something he can use, he will, and without a second thought, got it memorized?"

"Yeah, but I still think it's unfair that they get to draw power from me just because I have a heart, is that what all Namines do?" Falcon asked, her bright green eyes searching them for the answer.

"Yeah, one after the other, there is a lot in this Organization that's unfair," Axel said, "I've lived with it for a while."

"Hurry up, Axel! Roxas! We're not going to wait forever!" Xemnas's voice called from above. Instantly the three of them broke into a run. Up on the altar, seemingly supported by nothing, the glow of the moon shone onto the 11 other members of the Organization.

"Took you guys long enough," Xigbar said.

"Sorry," Axel apologized, "our bad."

"Let's begin the initiation," Xemnas said, turning around and walking out to the outer edge of the circle. The members of the Organization were arranged in a circle with Falcon in the middle. Axel and Roxas gave Falcon a last thumbs up before the initiation began. Xemnas muttered a few words, and a black shadow aura began to glow around each person. With the moonlight, the shadow auras combined together in the center of the circle right above Falcon's head. A light began to glow around her, and the mass of shadow above her head sent tendrils of darkness down, spiraling and interlocking all around her. When the shadows dispersed, Falcon was still there, but bore a now different aura, the aura of the Organization. In her hand, she held the Fenrir keyblade.

"A keyblade?!" Xemnas exclaimed, "you're a keyblade master?"

"I guess so," Falcon replied, shrugging. Everyone was amazed, and yet very happy. A keyblade master was their new Namine, Organization XII would be undefeatable.

"I deem your new name, Namine," Xemnas said, thus completing the initiation. Instantly everyone crowded around Falcon, questioning her about the keyblade and asking all kinds of things, like how she became its master, and did she know? With a thrust, Falcon took Fenrir and threw it to the ground, where it clattered and spun several meters before stopping, the air was silent.

"All this talk of being the keyblade master and all that is making it seem like your expectations of me are to empower the Organization, which I will not stand for. You keep saying how because of this, the Organization will be great, but what about me? It's like you don't care about me!" Falcon cried, her eyes blazing. No one said anything for a second, Axel and Roxas gulped worriedly, glancing at Xemnas; he could be very unpredictable in his replies.

Xemnas stepped forward, "we do care about you, Namine. We're just saying that having a keyblade wielder as our new Namine is a great step forward for us. You too, shall reap the benefits of this."

Now Falcon seemed to calm a bit, though her eyes were still blazing. With a flash of light, the Fenrir returned to her hand, and she looked at it, examining it, as if this one sword would determine her fate.

"That was a big risk," Axel said as he and Roxas accompanied her back down to her room for a get together randomly. Roxas went to get some food for them, "the Superior is very unpredicatable."

"Well you would've been hell a angry too," Falcon replied, turning the keyblade over and over in her hand. She knew how to swordfight, she had been the best in her village back when her parents had still been alive, better than a lot of the adults. And she learned quickly, "why does the Superior make such a big deal out of the keyblade?"

"Roxas is a keyblade master too," Axel said simply, "and so is Sora, Roxas's other half. Keyblade masters wield great power, and our boss wants that power, got it memorized?"

"Do you say that a lot?" Falcon asked.

"What, got it memorized?" Axel asked, "yeah I guess, my catchphrase." Roxas came into the room with a platter of food and sat down next to them.

"Awesome, now you're a keyblade master too!" Roxas cried, grabbing a sandwich, "the Superior's really happy. You should've seen him, he was practically singing." Axel and Falcon both laughed as they imagined Xemnas singing.

"Axel! Roxas! Namine!" Xemnas's voice called, "I want you out on heartless duty! The damn heartless have multiplied again, and they're swarming over the castle grounds." Both Roxas and Axel groaned as they stood up.

"What else is new?" Axel asked, "talk about boring with a capital B."

"Yeah," Roxas agreed, "come on Falcon-I mean Namine, I want to see your skills. Show me what you've got, let's go kick some heartless butt."


	6. Chapter 6

The three walked out onto the grounds of Castle Oblivion. It was unnaturally cold that night, and the three were shivering as they drew their weapons.

"It's definitely getting cold fast," Roxas said, "it was warm a few days ago...and now...well, weather can certainly change quickly..." Falcon nodded stiffly as she shivered, her teeth chattering from the bitter winter winds that sharply daggered through the air like jagged knives. Axel took sympathy on her and, feeling protective, put an arm around her shoulders in an effort to warm her up.

"Th-Thanks..." she stuttered, and snuggled against him, savoring the warm fire. Roxas quirked an eye and smirked. Oh, cunning little Roxas, his plan was working...

"Well, better get started on these heartless," Axel said, "you'll warm up as you get moving, so let's go." Spinning his twin chakrams as they generated bouts of flame, he charged forward on a fire slide and was lost in the midst of teeming heartless. Instantly Roxas was lost in the fray as well. Falcon hefted her keyblade and ran head on in the mass, slashing left and right, spinning as she dodged the heartless's sharp claws. She soon caught a glimpse of Axel, surrounded by a dozen heartless or more, breathing heavily. He twirled both chakrams again, throwing them both and sending them slicing through the ranks of never-ending heartless. Falcon brought one arm back and used sonic blade to smash through a row of heartless at a blinding speed. Axel spun around, surprised at her fighting skill.

"Falcon!" he cried, and dashed forward, dispatching a heartless creeping up behind her. Likewise, Falcon spun and twisted in mid-air, slamming her keyblade into the body of another, killing it. Falcon and Axel stood back to back soon, crushed in by the on flow of heartless, picking off one, then another, and another. Both were caught several times as heartless swarmed in on them, overtaking their defenses and tearing at their skin until the other saved them. Falcon then took off into the air, using her newfound flight skills, and picked off heartless from the air, swooping down and killing a few with sonic blade, then rising up again to regenerate, and re-using the attack. All three were so immersed in the fight that they didn't hear the giant heartless come until all the small fry scattered.

"They're retreating," Axel said, straightening up.

"No, look," Roxas said, and pointed. In front of them stood a massive lion-like heartless, though twice the size of any normal lion, all black except for the gleaming red eyes. Bleeding from a dozen bleeding cuts and scraped, Falcon staggered as she landed, her eyes widening in fear as she faced the giant lion. It roared massively, the very ground beneath them shuddering. And then it leapt, and though they managed to avoid being crushed, all three staggered under the earthquake-like impact of the lion's weight hitting the ground.

"This thing's huge!" Axel exclaimed, and he jumped swiftly aside as the lion jaw snapped shut over the very spot where he had been. The lion's long tail lashed out to the side though, and Axel yelped as he was swept off his feet and fell. The lion rounded on him, baring its humongous fangs. Axel scrambled up, and threw one of his chakrams at the creature, the burning wheel hitting the shoulder. The lion roared in pain as the scent of burning fur filled the air. Falcon leaped into the air and spreading her wings, she angled herself and folded them as she dive-bombed toward the lion's side, stretching her claws out. She felt the rip of flesh as her demon claws tore through the fur and skin of the lion's side, now stained with crimson blood all the way from the spine to the shoulder. Instantly the beast let out a thundering bellow and turned on Falcon, her hand dripping with blood. The lion lashed out with its claws at an amazing speed for one its size, and caught Falcon deftly on the side, the long claws tearing a gash in her side. Falcon screamed as the excruciating pain shot through her like a torpedo, and she kneeled down, clutching her side that was pouring blood with one hand. Roxas instantly rushed to her, and knelt down beside her.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Do I look okay?" she spat at him. She looked up and saw that the lion had turned its attention back to Axel, who was keeping it at bay with fire and his chakrams. The lion snapped it's teeth forward, and Axel narrowly missed having his head crushed, but the lion lashed out with his claws again, and slashed Axel on the leg. He cried out as his leg began streaming blood, but still he stood against the oncoming attack. Now he couldn't move as fast, and he stumbled when he put weight on the injured leg, his face contorting with pain. The lion was now gaining a distinct advantage, even with the three long rakes in its side. Axel sent his chakrams careening again at the beast, and it howled in rage, lunging again at Axel, who managed to dodge, wincing as pain shot like lightning up his leg, tearing a bit more.

He fixed Roxas and Falcon with a water-freezing glare, 'go, now! Get the rest of the Organization out here and get Falcon to safety. I'll hold off the lion!"

Falcon made to argue and defy him, but Roxas grabbed her arm, shaking his head, "no Falcon, he's right, only the rest of the Organization can kill it, let's go!"

"You go," Falcon said resolutely, "I'll stay here."

"No!" Axel shouted, "both of you, go now!" Falcon looked down, torn with indecision, and then ran back with Roxas. Together, they found the Organization within seconds.

"You tell them what's going on, I'm not letting Axel stay out there alone," Falcon said quickly to Roxas, "I finally figured out the meaning of what Namine said about being zero." Without another word, she sprinted back outside, using her lightning demon speed to reach the scene of the battle.

"Axel!" she cried in anguish as she saw the state he was in. The lion had definitely gotten the better of him. He was bleeding profusely from more wounds than she could count, including the deep wound on his leg. He had been slashed repeatedly on the chest, arms, and just about everywhere else. Falcon rushed over to him, desperately worried about him, which surprised her. There was a deep cut on his cheek, and his breath was coming in ragged gasps, blood bubbling from hi mouth.

"Falcon..." he whispered as the lion writhed on the ground from his last attack, "why are you...here?"

"You said that I should figure out the concept of being zero by myself, and I did. I will be obeyed if I have the second say," Falcon replied.

"You...shouldn't be here..." Axel continued, glancing at the rip in her side, "you're wounded."

Falcon rolled her eyes, 'pfft, like you should talk, you're a mess." Axel smirked slightly, and then shakily stood up, retrieving his chakrams. Due to her shadow element and her demon blood, the wound on Falcon's side was healing quickly. With a demon snarl, she leapt into the air and unleashed a flurry of consecutive lightning fast sonic blades on the lion, causing it to roar in pain and stand back up, trying to fin its assaulter. It swatted rapidly with its paws and tail, trying to knock Falcon from the air. It succeeded. With a cry, Falcon lost her balance as the tail struck home, slamming her to the ground, and re-opening the tear in her side. Falcon screamed as fire shot up her body from the wound: mind-numbing pain.

"Falcon!" Axel cried, and scrambled to her as fast as he could. He gasped as the lion rose in front of Falcon's fallen form, raising a paw to deliver the final blow. Axel powered up his fire slide, dashing on a blaze of flame the last few meters to her, standing protectively in front of Falcon as she rose, dazed by not terribly wounded, except for the fresh blood that poured from her side. She gasped as the lion swung its mighty paw, powered packed behind it, and slammed it into Axel, swatting him aside powerfully as if he were a mere bothersome fly. To Axel, it seemed like he'd just been hit by a freight train. He was knocked off his feet, and sprawled several meters on the ground before coming to a complete stop on the pavement and lying still, dreadfully still.

"Axel, no!" Falcon shouted and dashed to him, using all her speed, ignoring the sharp pains in her side. The lion simply bounded over her head and turned, cutting her off Axel. In desperation, Falcon felt the demon rise within her, and along with it, the power of her shadow, beckoning to her command. She rose up to her full height to stand before the lion, all feat gone from her mind, only rage remained, pure untainted rage. Black shadow filled the sky, blotting out the sun and any sign of light. As darkness twined around her, Falcon raised her arms, her emerald eyes flashing dangerously.

"I call upon the ancient power, and demon's blood, to invoke the right of shadow law," Falcon began. She had no idea where these words came from, they dimply spilled from her mouth like a river, "heed me darkness, banish all light and obey me. By demon's blood I command you, rid us of the monster before us." A chaotic wind whipped through the air, Falcon's hair lashing wildly. Even at her young age, in the demonized state, she appeared to be a wild demon mage, powerful and undeterred. The shadows entwined with the wind and formed a mighty dragon, which exploded into the air and split into two, forming another dragon. Together the two dragons rose and fell in intricate patterns through the blackness of the shattering sky.

"My two shadow warriors, rid of the beast before us," Falcon said, her voice commanding the dragons forward. The two dragons rushed toward the lion, who never before had seen suck an accomplished shadow mage at such a young age. It knew it had met its end. It gave one final roar that faded into nothingness as the dragons tore through its very being, thundering past even after the heartless lion had disappeared into the blackened air. The dragons vanished from sight and the fierce winds died down at last.

_'I've never unleashed such strong shadow power before...' _Falcon realized, her last though before her strength gave way and she fell to the ground.

It was at the exact moment that Axel woke to see Falcon sink slowly to the ground. The pain that surged through his body was instantly forgotten as he stood and rushed as fast as his body would allow over to the fallen Falcon. He knelt beside her, ignoring the pain as his torn muscle and skin protested, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Falcon..." he whispered gently, "no..." He hoped beyond hope that she wasn't dead. He would never be able to forgive himself if she died. Moreover, the Superior would never forgive him either.

"You can't be..." he said as he lifted her up, the excruciating tearing pain flooding back to him, rending his very being to pieces. As he trudged back, he knew he was close to blacking out himself, the pain was draining his strength to the core, and every step felt like lead. His cloak stained with Falcon's demon blood, and every shredded piece of sinew and fiber in him burned like wildfire, but first he needed to see Falcon into the care of Zexion. He surprised himself with the feelings of protectiveness and worry that filled him. He just reached the door when Zexion opened it.

"Heal her...Zexion, please," he gasped before staggering and collapsing to the ground, slipping into unconsciousness.

4


	7. Chapter 7

When Falcon woke, she was lying in a completely white room in a very comfortable bed. She sighed and tried to remember for a second why she was here, then the battle came rushing back to her, and she sighed and rolled over. She knew all her wounds have probably already healed, and confirmed this when she touched her side and felt nothing but regular skin. Then she remembered: Axel. In a flash, the image of him caught in her mind, bleeding and heavily wounded, she wouldn't have been surprised if he had a severe torn muscle or artery or something. She sat up, feeling a little woozy, but nothing else. Looking to the side, she saw the 12-year-old Zexion, already skilled in healing, bending over Axel's raggedly torn body.

"You're up, finally," he said simply, "you've been asleep for two days."

"Two days!" Falcon exclaimed, "what about Axel? How did I get here?"

"Axel carried you in," Zexion replied, not even turning to look at her. Falcon's eyes widened in astonishment, _'but he was so hurt, how could he have possibly...? It must've been nearly impossible, he was so wounded...' _Now that she peered over Zexion's shoulder at Axel's still body, barely even noticing the fact that he had his cloak and undershirt taken off to expose the skin underneath, she saw that he was worse off than she had imagined. There were tears and deep rips along his chest and arms, only his back remained untouched, seeing as he had never turned his back on the enemy. The slash on his cheek was nearly gone, thanks to Zexion, but there was one extremely deep gash that went from his shoulder nearly down to his waist, an inch or two deep in some places.

"How is he...?" Falcon asked shakily, afraid to know the answer.

Zexion sighed, "it'll take him a long time to heal. Not as fast as you I'm afraid. You barely had a scratch on you, except for the slash on your side, but that was almost gone when I saw to you."

"How...how did he manage to carry me back?" Falcon asked, "he's so..."

"To tell you the truth, I don't know. It's amazing to me how he could moved at all with all these injuries, more or less carried someone back," Zexion admitted, "he was all 'Heal her...Zexion, please' when he got to the door, very dramatic."

Falcon shook her head, "he needs to stop doing that."

"What? Being dramatic?"

"No, sacrificing his well-being for mine, he took the blow from the lion too, it was meant for me," Falcon said.

"Yes, I saw that."

"You did?"

"Yes, the Superior rushed us all to the balcony to watch the fight," Zexion replied. It was then that Falcon remembered how Roxas had told them all what had happened, and then...wait, weren't they supposed to help? She voiced her thoughts aloud.

"Yes, we were, or so Roxas said," Zexion agreed, "but the Superior thought it would be a good idea for that to test how powerful out new Namine was. You passed his test with flying colors, he's very happy."

"But Roxas, why didn't he-?"

"He was going to go back down to help you when he saw Axel get knocked out," Zexion continued, "but the Superior held him back, said that you shouldn't get any help." Falcon stood there, contemplating this for several seconds.

"These are some of the most severe wounds I have ever had to heal," Zexion said, "especially this one, the extremely deep one, it's horrible. I don't know how he managed to do anything with these. Well, that's all I can do," Zexion said, standing up, "the only that'll work now is rest and time."

"You said it'll be a long time before he fully heals," Falcon said as Zexion walked out the door.

"It will," he replied, "but I think the scar of that really deep wound is going to be there for a long time." With that, he left, leaving Falcon in the room with an asleep Axel. She looked down at him sadly, praying he would live.

"You really shouldn't have done that, you idiot," she whispered softly, unexpected tears coming to her eyes. She wiped them away, surprised that had happened. She hadn't cried since her parents had died, and now? This one boy who had sacrificed his life for her twice, she was crying over him?

"I'm must be getting soft," she muttered. Suddenly, she remembered something Roxas had said to her before.

_He considers you someone so important he would sacrifice his life to protect you. That's something._

Roxas had been right. Axel would sacrifice his life to protect her..._unfortunately..._ Falcon thought. She felt her expression soften as she gazed down at her "older brother."

"Well I guess it is your job as my nii-san to protect me," she said, then her expression hardened again, "but you should know that I am capable of defending myself." She sat there for a while, and then a thought came to her. Demon blood healed fast so...

"I hope this works..." she said softly, and gently removed the bandage covering the giant wound on his chest. She flinched as she saw the shredded skin, bloody and deep, horribly grotesque. She bit back bile at the sight of such a horrendous wound. Then, she raised her arm and pulled back the sleeve of the cloak. Barely hesitating, she sank her sharp demon teeth into her wrist, wincing as a flash of pain shot up her arm. Then she placed her wrist against Axel's wound, making drops of her demon blood mix with his bloodstream. As she pulled away, she saw that the puncture holes in her wrist were already closing.

_They really do heal fast... _she thought. Gingerly, she replaced the bandages over his injury, hoping her plan would work.

A few hours later, Axel's eyes flickered open, and he attempted to sit up, having forgotten about the injuries on his body. With a yelp of pain, he sank back down, wincing as a stinging fire daggered through him. His cry had woken up Falcon who had dozed off next to him.

"Axel?" she muttered groggily, "you're up?" She blinked, and rubbed her eyes, "how're you feeling?" Axel grinned as only he could, amused that she was so worried about him.

"I'm fine...nee-chan," he said playfully. Falcon's eyes widened.

"You just called me..." she began, amazed at what he just said.

"Little sister, yeah," he finished, "is that so surprising?"

Falcon simply shook her head, "no. Just...did you really carry me in?"

Axel was a bit taken aback by the question, "uh...yeah. Yeah, I did."

Falcon smiled sweetly, "thanks but...you really should stop putting your life in danger for mine." Axel smirked.

"That's probably not gonna happen any time soon," he replied, "I'm very protective of my younger sister."

Falcon sighed, "I guess but..." Axel lightly shook his head, stopping her.

"Don't try and argue with me," he said gently, "I'm never gonna stop protecting you, nee-chan." Falcon sighed again, there WAS no arguing with him. Something told her that he wouldn't listen even is she used her zero authority.

"And I won't listen even if you use your zero authority," Axel added as if he knew what she was thinking. Suddenly Falcon had an irresistible urge to hug him and stay there. Her nii-san was her sense of safety.

"I think you might heal faster than Zexion says you will," Falcon said, changing the subject. There was a three second delay as Axel's brain changed topics.

"How do you know?" he asked. When Falcon told him what she'd done, his eyes grew to the size of ping-pong balls.

"You put...demon blood in me?" he asked incredulously, "YOUR demon blood?" Falcon nodded, "that's...amazing. You're right, I might heal faster, we'll just have to wait and see. That's amazing..." Chuckling softly, Axel shook his head. For the second time in days, he was unable to believe the young girl's sense of loyalty.


	8. Chapter 8

"This is astounding," Zexion said as his eyes widened, the equivalent of any normal person exclaiming it at the top of their lungs, "there's no way a wound like that could've healed so fast." Axel and Falcon exchanged looks, only they knew what had really happened. In just two days time, Axel's injuries had completely sealed, and the huge gash on his chest was only a thin white scar.

"Do you think you could've misjudged?" Saix asked calmly.

Zexion shook his head, "no, I couldn't have. Those wounds were monstrous; you should've seen them. Only Falcon was in the room after I left..." Roxas narrowed his eyes slightly, maybe the rest of the Organization were bumbling idiots, but Roxas had a strong inkling that Falcon had something, and probably everything to do with Axel's unnatural healing speed. _Maybe my plan worked a little too well...I'm starting to feel a little left out..._

Roxas cornered the two of them later that afternoon, determined to know what was really going on. Axel and Falcon were expecting him to approach sooner or later, but it was still creepy when he seemingly appeared out of the nowhere when they were walking down the stairs.

"Okay, what did you two do when I wasn't there?" Roxas challenged them, walking to them head held high. Axel and Falcon both blushed, but Roxas seemed unaware that what he just said sounded so wrong, "well, fess up."

"What do you mean?" Axel asked.

"You know perfectly well what I mean," Roxas replied, "normally wounds don't heal that fast and I know you," he indicated Falcon, "had something to do with it, what did you do?"

Falcon grinned ever so slightly and sighed, "all right, I'll tell you. I gave him some of my demon blood."

Roxas shook his head, "no seriously, what'd you do? No jokes."

Falcon gave him an incredulous look, "I'm not joking! That's really what I did!" Roxas quirked an eyebrow and crossed his arms, his blue eyes glittering with suspicion. He didn't really believe Falcon could transfer blood like that, but now that he thought about it, it wasn't all that impossible...

"Really, that's what she did," Axel added, "how else do you think my injury healed so fast?" Roxas finally gave in.

"Oh all right, if you say so, how did you do it?" he asked. Falcon looked at him like it was the weirdest question ever.

"I just bit my wrist and pressed it to his wound, what else?" she asked, "were you expecting some complicated blood transfer ritual or something?"

Roxas's eyes widened and his mouth gaped open, "you mean you mixed blood?" Falcon shrugged.

"I guess..." she muttered, "is that such a big deal?"

"Well that means..." Roxas murmured, "if you shared blood, that means the two of you are connected! That means you are almost telepathic!" Axel and Falcon both had the same puzzled look on their face, "you just don't get it, do you?"

"No," both Axel and Falcon shook their heads.

"Okay, if two people mix blood, legend has it that they're nearly telepathic and are spiritually connected for the rest of their lives!" Roxas exclaimed.

"Uh...and where did you learn this?" Falcon asked skeptically, "you sure this is true?"

"Umm...for the most part," Roxas admitted, "but if it is, that would be so awesome!" He looked at them excitedly, "don't you think?"

"Uh...yeah," Axel said hesitantly, "I think that's a little far-fetched. I mean, this was days ago, and I still haven't been getting any private messages from Fal yet."

"Fal?" Falcon asked, turning to Axel, "since when have you called me Fal?"

Axel shrugged innocently, " I don't know. It's shorter, more convenient." Falcon crossed her arms and gave him the and-you-think-I-care look.

"Whatever," she said, "just don't make a habit out of it."

"Oh don't worry, I will," Axel replied, and Falcon fumed silently, but decided to not let it bother her much.

"Anyway, the point is, I think you two are telepathic!" Roxas cried joyfully, "I'm right, you'll see eventually."

"Uh-huh," Falcon said, rolling her eyes, "whatever you say, I'm gonna go and get some training in or something, tell me if the Superior wants me for anything and I'll be sure to disobey." Roxas and Axel both grinned and chuckled as Falcon walked away.

"She sure is getting more talkative," Axel said.

"Yeah, and she's only been here for like a week," Roxas agreed. There was silence for a while as they walked upstairs in silence. Then Roxas spoke, "you know, I really was going to go down and help you fight, but the Superior wanted me to stay, he wanted to see how good Falcon really was." Axel didn't respond but looked up at the white marble ceiling. Thoughts clouded his mind, he really didn't know anymore, were Nobodies really emotionless? Or was it just all a fluke? Maybe it took something intense to really trigger emotion in a nobody, because he definetly felt something for the young girl who had simply walked in on his life.


	9. Chapter 9

So, this is my 9th chapter. I definetly think this one is going to be longer than Spirit Fire. Simply because this includes more time in the games. Well, since I really don't feel like writing all 5 years of Falcon's time in the Organization, I'm going to skip 4, leaving us about in the midst of Chain of Memories. I hope you like it!

-----

_**4 Years Later...**_

"Up, down, parry," Falcon silently whispered the movements to herself as she sparred with air, slicing her keyblade so fast it seemed only a flash of metal, "draw back, cut!" She straightened up and sighed, wiping the sweat off her forehead. She had been outside for an hour now, practicing. She patted her trusty Fenrir keyblade. For four years now she had been in possession of the sturdy blade, and it had never once failed her. Her black/red hair had grown a lot during the time, and she herself had grown immensely, more mature and understanding, and her dark green eyes shone with determination and strength. At 13, she was definetly different from the shy 9 year old that had joined the Organization many years ago. She now knew her way around the castle, and personally was acquainted with every member.

"Looking good as ever, Fal," a voice called. Falcon rolled her eyes and turned around to see two guys walking towards her. Her two best friends in the Organization, Axel, and Roxas strolled towards her, also very different from 4 years ago. Axel was much taller, grazing 6' 3", a giant height in Falcon's opinion. His fire red hair still spiked out as usual, and he still had the same poison apple green eyes that Falcon possessed. His voice was considerably deeper as well, being 17, it was a big change. Roxas was slightly taller than Falcon, about 5' 7". Also 13, Roxas's ever calm and innocent blue eyes shone with kindness, his slightly spiked dirty blonde hair waving in the cold wind.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that?" Falcon said, exasperated. Axel just gave her his trademark smirk and ruffled her hair.

"And how many times have I told you I will still call you that no matter how many times you tell me not to," he replied.

Falcon opened her mouth to retort, but thought better of it, "good point."

"You've been out here for an age," Roxas added as Oblivion and Oathkeeper shimmered into his hands, "wanna spar?"

"No fair," Falcon said, "you get two keyblades!" Roxas sighed.

"All right," he said, then walked over to Axel, "hold this for me?" He held out Oblivion and Axel took it from him. Roxas turned around, "now?"

"Fine," Falcon said. She positioned her Fenrir keyblade in front of her in defensive position, "let's see what you can do, pretty boy." Roxas dashed forward and sliced down with his sword, and Falcon lifted to block. Roxas then withdrew his sword and quickly sliced horizontally, the same maneuver that Falcon had been practicing a moment ago. She jumped backwards and held her keyblade up to block again as Roxas slammed his sword down, jarring Falcon down to her shoulder.

"Why do you have to be so...good?" Falcon muttered through gritted teeth as she swung her keyblade with all her power packed behind it, throwing Roxas backward. He landed on his feet, skidding a few inches; both of them faced each other, trying to catch their breath.

A whistle of admiration was heard from the direction of Axel, "a battle of keyblade masters," he said, "amazing." This time it was Falcon who charged forward, going on the offense, striking rapidly, using all her strength to go as fast as she could, her keyblade was just a blur as it struck home again and again. Finally Roxas relented and sank down.

"Okay, okay," he said, "you win." Falcon triumphantly stood up and helped Roxas up.

"You did really good too," she said.

"Yeah Roxas," Axel agreed, "don't look so down." Roxas smiled and nodded.

"Thanks," he said.

"It's too early for dinner," Falcon noted as she looked into the sky, "let's go chill in the rec room. If we're lucky, Larxene and Marluxia won't be there."

"Knowing them, we probably won't ever be lucky," Axel replied as they headed in, "they basically live in that room."

"Man," they heard 16-year-old Demyx say as they walked in the rec room, "it's freezing out there today."

"I rather like it," this was Vexen, "it's my type of weather."

"That's 'cause you're ice element, Vexen," they heard Larxene say, "duh you would like it."

"It's not that cold," Axel joined in as they walked in, "I'd say it's lukewarm."

"And you wouldn't feel it if it was –10 degrees," Larxene said, "you're fire."

Axel grinned, "good point." Falcon and Roxas shivered as they entered the warmth of the rec room.

"I'd agree with Demyx," Falcon said, "it is kinda cold."

"Well anyway," Demyx said as he stood up, "I need to go and do other stuff right now." He patted Falcon on the head as he walked out, "see you all later."

"I'm hungry," Falcon said, "hey Roxas, wanna go salvage for food with me in the kitchen?" Roxas nodded and together they headed out of the room and downstairs.

Now it was just Larxene, Vexen, Axel, and the ever-silent Marluxia in the room.

"On a different matter," Larxene said, "Vexen, Sora seems to be advancing ever so quickly up the floors of Castle Oblivion. You're Riku Replica isn't doing such a great job anymore."

"What I am doing is none of your concern," Vexen replied.

"If we are going to take the Organization, you'll need to make sure that puppet is doing what we need it to do," Marluxia said.

"The last I checked, I am number 4, you are 11, I outrank you," Vexen said, turning to Marluxia.

Marluxia grinned, "Xemnas told me that I could control this while he was gone, or would you like me to tell him of your failure to control the replica?"

Vexen paled, "no, anything but that. Fine, I'll go and do it." With that, he left the room in a black shadow.

"Well," Larxene said, "I'm going to go and see how our Sora is doing. I want to test him."

"Don't kill him," Axel said, "we need him if we're going to succeed in anything,"

"Do I sense a soft spot?" Larxene taunted. Axel's straight expression didn't change.

"I am simply telling you that Sora staying alive is important if we are going to take the Organization," he said, "don't break him."

"Don't worry," Larxene said, "I'm not going to break the toy, just play with it." With that, she also left in a flurry of shadows.

"Without Namine here, it seems you are a totally different person, Axel," Marluxia said, "darker. More malicious. Why is that?"

Axel simply gazed at him, "I don't know what you're talking about." With that, he stood, and left the room, leaving Marluxia to ponder his thoughts.


	10. Chapter 10

Okay, so this is my newest chapter. I hope you enjoy it! And maybe some of you will recognize a bit of this from Chain of Memories. I mixed around the words a bit 'cause there's no way I can memorize exactly what everyone says, but I hope you like it anyway!

-----

A few hours later Larxene returned to the rec room, her hair tousled and she looked like she'd come out of a tornado. Marluxia and Axel turned to her.

"Unsuccessful?" Axel asked with a smirk, "I knew it. That kid's harder than you think." Larxene glared at him.

"While you were in here lollygagging, I found out something that's worth knowing," Larxene said, scowling, "would you like to know?"

Axel leaned back against the wall, folding his arms across his chest and gazed at Larxene with an unreadable expression, "go on." Larxene cleared her throat and looked at Marluxia.

"It seems Vexen has been a double agent," she said, loud and clear. Axel's expression switched to an intrigued look, and Marluxia grinned, "I caught him helping Sora right before I fought him. He gave him far more information than he needed to know."

Marluxia nodded, "I knew somehow that he would turn against us. But for safety purposes, something needs to be done, or Sora will know far too much to be of any help to us. And I know just the solution." Grinning, he turned to Axel, "Axel, rid us of our traitor."

Axel smirked and pushed off the wall. Walking away, he called over his shoulder, "consider it done. No regretting the choice later."

"You're very strong," Vexen said quietly to Sora as they stood before the gate to the old mansion in Twilight Town, "this place is hidden deep within your memories. You remember..."

"Why should I believe you?" Sora retorted, "you're with Organization XIII!"

"Because Sora..." Vexen replied, "you are-" Suddenly a spike-tipped chakram flew out of nowhere and with excellent precision, slammed into Vexen's back. Grunting in pain, he fell to his knees as Axel appeared behind him, his eyes glinting evilly.

"Axel, you..." Vexen began.

"Silence, traitor," Axel said, then turned to Sora, "sorry to end it right when he was getting to the good part, but some things are just better left unsaid, got it memorized?"

"Axel!" Sora cried, "you're the one I met!"

"So touched you remember me," Axel said. He lifted his other chakram, intending to deal the deathblow to Vexen.

"No Axel," Vexen pleaded weakly, "I beg of you, I don't want to...go yet."

Axel scoffed, "you should feel lucky. As a nobody, you can't even feel. At least now you can be nothing instead of just nobody." Without another word, Axel quickly sliced his chakram deep across Vexen's back, blood spurting onto his cloak, as Vexen collapsed to the ground and his body disappeared, as was the death of all nobodies.

"Well, job done," Axel said, retrieving his chakrams and standing up, "so sorry to leave so soon. See you around." Axel vanished in a swirl of black shadow, leaving a very bewildered Sora standing alone.

Axel re-appeared in the rec room, where Marluxia and Larxene were waiting.

"Done," Axel said without a single expression, "there will be no more traitorous acts by Vexen."

"Well done," Marluxia acknowledged. Unbeknownst to the three inside, young Roxas and Falcon were eavesdropping outside the door and were very curious as to what they were talking about.

"Gee Axel," Larxene said, "I didn't think you had it in you to kill another member, I guess you proved me wrong. You're with the big leagues now." Axel didn't reply but went back to leaning against the wall.

Roxas and Falcon exchanged alarmed looks, Axel had killed someone? Of the Organization? They had always believed Axel wasn't one of the dark, betraying types, could they have been wrong?

"I'm going to tell Xemnas about the...unfortunate accident with Vexen," Marluxia said as he disappeared, "don't worry. I'll tell him Sora killed him." Larxene nodded.

"I'll be back in my room if it's all right," she said, "it's enough action for one day." With that, both transported away, leaving Axel alone in the room. Roxas and Falcon were about to barge in to ask what that was all about when they heard a bone-chilling laugh. Had Axel officially lost it? They had never heard him like this before. He was totally different from when he was around them. More dark, cunning, and malicious. He carried an aura of betrayal and his deep ulterior motives. Despite herself, Falcon found herself shivering with fright. Could her older brother be totally different from what he was letting on about himself?

"This is going to be good!" Axel cried to no one in particular, "all the pieces are in place. Sora, Riku, Marluxia, Larxene, it's about time you gave me one hell of a show!"

-----

I hope you all liked that! Stay tuned for the next installment! And R&R!!!


End file.
